Fair opens with mining showcase - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

FAIRBANKS — After a few days of rain, the drizzle stopped just in time for the Tanana Valley State Fair, and on Friday Alaskans made their way to the fairgrounds for food and fun with family and friends. 

Friday was Mining Day, and Roger Burggraf, 85, had on display a collection of gold, silver, copper, rocks and mining equipment. Burggraf came to Alaska as a young man looking for work, and eventually became a gold prospector and active member of the Alaska Miners Association. His collection comprised items he had mined himself or acquired.  

“Mining is a lot of work and I enjoy it,” Burggraf said. “It’s hard work but it can be rewarding if you’re lucky. A few can make it.” 

Burggraf’s gold collection was taken from the region: large gold nuggets from the Dome Creek Mine near Fairbanks, grains of placer mine gold from Goldstream Creek, and a rock from Ester Dome with gold flakes in it. Burggraf also had samples of rock from the large-scale Pogo and Fort Knox mines, and he explained how the rock is ground up to extract the gold. 

Burggraf stressed the importance of Fairbanks miners and miner history. 

“Fairbanks wouldn’t be here without the miners,” he said. 

Mining companies and organizations also had officials on hand to answer questions, and the miners ran a gold panning operation for the children. Usibelli Coal Mine had a shiny piece of coal on display that was cut from the coal seams near Healy. 

Throughout the afternoon, the fairgrounds began to fill up. 

Rappers “Franky Deluxe” and “Divine,” whose given names are Chase Franklin and Deven Kosal respectively, were hyping up the fairgoers for their rap concert, headlined by Mark Battles, which begins at 9 p.m. tonight. 

“It feels a bit nostalgic being here,” Kosal said. “I always looked forward to the fair before going back to school. Now I feel blessed I get to perform out here as an artist.” 

In the livestock barn, Brittney Ashcroft, 17, and Anne Marie D’Hondt, 12, prepared a lustrous brown goat named Charlie for a livestock show later that night. Ashcraft was trimming the goat’s hair with scissors and D’Hondt was scrubbing the cloven hooves clean. 

“He smells great. I just washed him,” D’Hondt said of her goat. 

D’Hondt said she uses Ruff ’n‘ Tuff shampoo to give Charlie his shine. 

Ashcroft said she prefers to shave her own goat with a trimmer because their muscles show through, but D’Hondt said that is too time consuming. 

After some discussion, the girls said it takes between four and 10 hours to prepare one goat for a show at the fair. 

The goat show Friday was only one of many livestock shows happening throughout the week. 

Today is Think Pink Day. Fairgoers are encouraged to wear pink and donate money to the Breast Cancer Detection Center. The fair will open at noon and close at midnight today. Admission is $10 for adults, children and senior tickets are $5 and kids 5 and younger get free admission. 

Contact staff writer Kevin Baird at 459-7575. Follow him on Twitter: @FDNMcity.